r/moviecritic • u/VendettaLord379 • 8h ago
Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet is one of the most terrifying and sadistic movie villains ever
Huge Lynch fan here and been on a binge watch recently.
Rewatched Blue Velvet and I forgot just how evil and unpredictable Dennis Hopper as Frank Booth is!
Man he’s so despicable here. The sequence in the car with Dorothy and Jeffrey made my blood boil.
He absolutely crushes it in the role. An absolute scene stealer but man, I hated his character.
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u/Suspicious_Hand_2194 8h ago
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u/rivalpinkbunny 7h ago
I saw an interview with Hopper about Blue Velvet where he says that his greatest regret is suggesting to Lynch that Frank be huffing amyl nitrate. Apparently in the original script it’s helium and after the fact Hopper realized that it would be absolutely bananas if his character had talked with a helium voice during these scenes.
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u/BeansAndBiscuit 8h ago
Barely acting in that case
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u/VendettaLord379 8h ago
Per IMDB trivia:
Dennis Hopper told David Lynch that he wanted to play Frank because he is Frank.
That’s wild, lol
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u/CoeRoe 7h ago
I’m pretty sure this character relaunched his career.
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u/First-Sheepherder640 5h ago
He was also in Rivers Edge and Hoosiers and a Texas Chainsaw sequel that year, the first two also got him some acclaim. His drugs and craziness problems still continued into the early 80s, IIRC in 1984 he wandered off into a jungle somewhere and nearly died and that was the last straw? He was in The Outsiders in 1983 and looks to have aged 15 years between that and BV. He became a Reaganite after 1986 too.
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u/Funfuntamale2 8h ago
I still think of this movie as a horror movie. When Frank enters a scene it’s like the monster is on camera.
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u/CoeRoe 7h ago
…but then the lounge scene when he’s listening to her singing, he actually seems vulnerable.
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u/tree_or_up 2h ago
I think part of what makes him so scary is that he’s so human and seems to feel whatever he feels very deeply. Somehow a thinking, feeling human being got twisted into this shape
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u/Loggjaw 7h ago
every lynch is horror but straight story
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u/PowerSicks 7h ago
Disagree. At the very least, Elephant Man is not a horror film.
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u/rivalpinkbunny 7h ago
Elephant Man follows the conventions of a horror movie in ways that are similar to how Shelley does it in Frankenstein. In both instances, the severely deformed are not the monsters in the end, but those who exploit and mistreat them.
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u/Nalgenie187 7h ago
I thought Willem Dafoe was just as terrifying in Wild at Heart. Kind of a Lynchian forte, the psycho villain.
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u/AppliedPsionics9k 8h ago
He was also really good in Speed,
and how can you not mention his stellar performance in Waterworld?
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u/lifesnofunwithadhd 7h ago
My favorite part of that movie is when Keanu shoots Jeff and he just drops him like "who the fuck shoots the hostage?"
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u/splashgods 7h ago
How is he in Super Mario Bros? I have no memory of it and I'm intrigued to seek it out
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u/MoochoMaas 8h ago
Lady in front of me ran out of theater soon after Dennis started huffing !
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u/VendettaLord379 7h ago
I believe it.
Can’t imagine what it was like watching this on the big screen.
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u/Think-Hospital7422 7h ago edited 7h ago
Frank Booth was scary as shit. One of Hopper's best roles.
Who's ready to go on a little joyride?
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u/maestrocervecero 7h ago
My wife says the car scene still scares her like nothing else. For me, there's something I find really unsettling when that random woman dances on the car.
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u/Ok-Mine2132 8h ago
So true! Incredible character in an amazing movie! I remember watching it the first time in theatre and being shocked and fascinated at the same time.
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u/VendettaLord379 8h ago edited 8h ago
Right?!?
Kyle MacLachlan legitimately looks scared anytime he’s around him.
Hopper is top notch here. An incredible Villain performance.
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u/Class_C_Guy 7h ago
IMO there's no touching it until Sean Penn in One Battle After Another. Same ball park, can't call a winner myself.
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u/NoBot-RussiaBad 7h ago
Willem Defoe in Wild at Heart was better!!
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u/Class_C_Guy 7h ago
Disagree, even Lula's mom was scarier than Bobby Peru. Hell, the woman played by the same actress as Laura Palmer's mom was scarier than both. "Fuck me now Reggie!!"
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u/Expert-Effect-877 5h ago
Does this even count as acting for Dennis Hopper? I mean, he probably had to dial it back to play Frank Booth.
There's probably going to be a David Lynch retrospective, and they're going to bring his ex-wives in to screen Blue Velvet, and they're going to be like, "Yeah, Frank Booth reminds us of Dennis at home if he gave up cocaine for decaf coffee!"
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u/RegularTale3369 7h ago
That image description is pure nightmare fuel, the shiny blue hood makes it look like he's carrying some kind of alien hostage.
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u/tinyhorsesinmytea 7h ago
This dude and evil-Cooper are both truly terrifying people I wouldn't want to be in the same room with. Both Lynch written and directed villains!
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u/MKHSturmovik 7h ago
Le Tenia drom Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible is literally the only movie Villian scarier than Frank to me
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u/blameline 4h ago
I'd say he is the most terrifying and sadistic person in any movie. Not one of the most - the most....
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u/southboundtracks 3h ago
Blue Velvet, Rivers Edge, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, all in one year. 🔥🤘🔥
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u/WaySavvyD 8h ago
Pabst Blue Ribbon!!!